16th Apr 2020 13:02
(Alliance News) - Parity Group PLC on Thursday reported a swing to loss for 2019 as it expressed confidence in its ability to continue through the period of uncertainty arising from the Covid-19 outbreak.
The stock was trading 1.8% lower at 7.00 pence each on Thursday afternoon in London.
For 2019, the staffing and consultancy business posted revenue of GBP80.4 million, down 6.6% from GBP86.1 million the year prior. The company said the fall in revenue came as a result of lower recruitment revenues as its contract with the Scottish government to supply workers wound down.
Due to the loss of the contract, Parity's total average number of contractors during the year was 871, down from 972 in 2018. As at the end of 2019, the total number of contractors were 648, compared to 995 at the end of 2018.
Pretax loss of GBP1.1 million was recorded, swinging from a profit of GBP358,000 in 2018. The company incurred exceptional restructuring costs of GBP1.2 million.
No dividend was declared for the period, unchanged from the year prior.
Looking ahead, Parity said that although it is unable to predict the extent to which Covid-19 may hurt its business, it remains confident as recent developments show government expenditure will be more resilient. For 2019, 70% of the company's revenue came from the public sector.
"We are already seeing signs that government expenditure will be more resilient as much of it is aligned to the provision of key public services. However due to the ongoing uncertainty caused by Covid-19, Parity expects there will be an impact on revenues for the current year. The exact extent of this impact remains impossible to quantify at this stage," said Non-Executive Chair John Conoley.
The company added that it has implemented measures such as pay reductions as well as a continuous review with clients and contractors to asses how Covid-19 may hurt supply and demand with the aim of giving Parity adequate time to prepare as well as to fill potential gaps in client's workforces.
As at the end of December, Parity had net cash of GBP4.1 million and a GBP10 million credit facility.
By Ife Taiwo; [email protected]
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